Last Tuesday (July 30), the Department of Prizes and Betting of the Ministry of Finance (SPA/MF) published Ordinance No. 1,207, dated July 29, 2024. The document defines technical requirements for online betting games and live studio games, outlining the necessary criteria for the certification of each type of game.
The ordinance addresses the lottery modality of fixed-odds betting, including games such as slot machines, crash games, blackjack, roulette, among others. However, it only pertains to bets placed online, even if with live dealers, and continues to prohibit offering this type of game in a physical format. One definition in the ordinance is that a player will be considered inactive and their session will be terminated after 30 minutes of inactivity.
Among the defined criteria is that the game “must be random in nature, with the result determined by a random number, symbol, figure, or object generator, and must provide the bettor with payout tables covering all possible winnings before placing bets.” The game must be fixed-odds, showing, at the time of the bet, the multiplication factor that will determine the amount to be received by the player in case of a win.
According to a note published by the SPA/MF regarding the ordinance, the aim of the defined rules “is to protect bettors through rules that ensure honesty and transparency in games. It is based on international guidelines related to the themes of security and reliability of operation, used in the main markets for these games.” Based on these criteria, certifiers recognized by the SPA will determine whether a specific game can be offered in the Brazilian market.
Another important definition in the rules deals with what are not considered fixed-odds online games. The list of formats to which the rules do not apply includes: “skill games, fantasy sports, multiplayer games (games where the bettor’s actions or results are influenced by the result or action of another bettor), and peer-to-peer (P2P) betting games (where the betting operator does not get involved in offering the game, providing only the environment for bettors’ use).”
